On the last step of the tutorial I am in ponyprog and trying to write the hex file to my robot When I click Write All I get this error message

Communication port not available (-16)

I am using the AVR ISP2 programmer and have verified that it is plugged into a USB port in my computers device manager however unlike the picture in the tutorial it is not classified under Ports(Com & Lpt) but under Jungo->AVRISP mkII, I dont know if that means anything

I'm using an Universal Programmer for AVR for PonyProg and it worked for me. You should probabily check the Interface Calibation from the Setup? menu. and then try Serial> SI Prog API / SI Prog I/O / JDM API. For me worked JDM API ; so I think you should do this first (if you hadn't done so) and if you don't know what to choose, just try them each. I had some problems myself.Good luck!

Im having this same issue my message is port 24 is not available. Ive tried everything that raz posted and none of that worked. I also looked online for avrdude and couldnt find an installer that would work. I searched the forum and havent found anything else on this topic, so im hoping u guys may be able to help me out here.

Update to this situation here. I tried using avrisp and it seems i can at least get a little further. Im getting an error when i try to write. Its actually unable to read the signature. This may just be a minor glitch so i hope its an easy fix.

If anyone has any insight at all that would be much appreciated. I only have tonight off and i wanna get this situation figured out tonight if possible.

Or it's had its fuses scrambled in a way that's put it in an unprogrammable state (this can happen if the clock fuses get misprogrammed, such as selecting for an external clock when you don't have an external clock connected, or if the JTAG/debugWire fuses gets programmed). This kind of failure has happened to me a number of times as the result of trying to program an unpowered mega168 or mega644. The power delivered over SPI is enough to get the chip to program, but it's not enough to keep the programming commands from getting corrupted.

This kind of failure has happened to me a number of times as the result of trying to program an unpowered mega168 or mega644. The power delivered over SPI is enough to get the chip to program, but it's not enough to keep the programming commands from getting corrupted.

hmmmm I've noticed that I can program my Axon without powering other than by AVRISP2 . . . and the fuses got corrupted once from it . . . lucky me the clock fuses weren't changed! I'll be more careful in the future to power it up first . . .

Note that this kind of problem can depend on the programmer. I believe some programmers will actually deliver power the target device using whichever ISP pin is Vcc. I think others might actually get their power from this pin. The one I was working (the Pololu Orangutan USB programmer) with originally did neither, so it became possible to program a device without actually delivering real power to it. Since this was an easy mistake for people to make and it could lead to some pretty bad problems, we have since changed the made a revision to the programmer that allows it to monitor the power of the target device and refuse to program if the device is unpowered.

Be sure to make correct selections in Setup / I/O port setup. For example, in case of AVR target and parallel port ISP adapter cable, check Parallel + "Avr ISP I/O" + LPTn. If any port is unavailable, the selection will be greyed out. NB: If there is only one LPT port on your PC, PonyProg will not automatically select it -- you still have to tick the only LPT box available (or else you will get the annoying message that brought you here!).

If you are still getting the error message, there might be a problem with Windows LPT port driver. Check that a driver is installed and operating properly in the Hardware Device Manager (right-click on 'My Computer' desktop icon). As a last resort, try uninstalling and reinstalling the LPT driver. (Install via Control Panel / Add New hardware.)

Caution for ATmega16, etc, users: Be sure to select the correct option "fuses" before programming the device, particularly if using a slow clock speed. Follow the instructions that came with your board and/or the ATmega16 datasheet.

hi brothers... am new to programming atmega...i need to program atmega16...i tried both serial and parallel port connection but still i couldnt complete....

first i tried serial in ponyprog...am damm sure my circuit connection is perfect... but i got error which says"device missing or unknown device (-24)"

then i tried parallel port con.... in ponyprog...now circuit con i did seeing for some site...it was same said in 3 websites so i did same circuit in breadbord... now also am very sure about connection..then i selected interfacing setup...in this only in DT-006 API and I/O prob test says ok....while reading or erasing chip i get error"communication port not available(-16)"

not only ponyprog i used many softwares to program my atmega 16....but everything shows some error...then i thought atmega is fired and i bought a new one and still i face the same porblem..am using windows 7 os... i even tried in windows xp...

plzzzz my dear bros i need ur help in writing program into my atmega..

i really have put a lot of work in doing this project i don want to drop this project for this reason...